East Chambers running back Glenn Roberts, 27, is dragged down by Newton's Corey Jenkins during the game Friday at Singletary Stadium in Newton. Matt Billiot/Special to the Enterprise

East Chambers running back Glenn Roberts, 27, is dragged down by Newton's Corey Jenkins during the game Friday at Singletary Stadium in Newton. Matt Billiot/Special to the Enterprise

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East Chambers running back Glenn Roberts, 27, rushes during the game Friday at Singletary Stadium in Newton. Matt Billiot/Special to the Enterprise

East Chambers running back Glenn Roberts, 27, rushes during the game Friday at Singletary Stadium in Newton. Matt Billiot/Special to the Enterprise

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Buccaneer #27, Glenn Roberts, left, pushes off the helmet of Hawk #7, Blain Padgett, as he tries to gain some yardage. The East Chambers Buccaneers football team played the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks at 7:00 p.m. Friday night at Hawk Stadium. At the half, the Hawks were ahead 6-0. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise less

Buccaneer #27, Glenn Roberts, left, pushes off the helmet of Hawk #7, Blain Padgett, as he tries to gain some yardage. The East Chambers Buccaneers football team played the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks at 7:00 p.m. ... more

Photo: Dave Ryan

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East Chambers overcomes lopsided loss, reaches playoffs

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On a Saturday last month, East Chambers coach Russ Sutherland made a decision he had never made in his coaching career.

He opted not to share the tape from the previous night's game when his team assembled for weekly film review.

Sutherland decided he needed to repair the damaged psyche of his team rather than rehash a litany of mistakes.

The night before, East Chambers had been trounced 74-7 by eventual District 10-2A, Division I champion Newton.

A highly anticipated showdown for the district lead had turned into a high profile meltdown by the Buccaneers.

East Chambers yielded a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, allowed seven touchdown plays of longer than 30 yards, and turned the ball over four times, including a fumble and an interception that were returned for touchdowns."I didn't think anything good could come out

of that video," said Sutherland. "It was over and done with. It wasn't worth looking at."

Sutherland convinced his team during a lengthy meeting that Saturday that while it had become clear East Chambers wasn't the district's top team, proving it was a playoff caliber team now became the task at hand.

"We knew at that point our backs were against the wall. All eyes were going to be on us to see how we responded," said Sutherland.

Sutherland had seen his team respond well a few weeks earlier after suffering its first loss of the season, a devastating one-point loss to Hardin-Jefferson when an extra point kick after a late touchdown was missed.

The Buccaneers rebounded with a strong road win against Woodville the week after that loss, and Sutherland was confident they could rebound again.

East Chambers was tied with Kirbyville at half the week after the Newton loss, before a long interception return early in the second half shifted momentum, propelling the Buccaneers to a 42-27 win that night.

Easy wins over Kountze, Anahuac and Hardin followed, giving East Chambers (8-2) a four-game winning streak and earning it a bidistrict playoff matchup with No. 16 state-ranked Troup (9-1) from District 9-2A, Division I at Abe Martin Stadium in Lufkin tonight at 7.

As Sutherland looks back upon the Buccaneers' current roll, he points to two key factors.

One is improved quarterback play. In an offense which features running back Glenn Roberts, who has averaged close to 200 rushing yards per game and scored 39 touchdowns, not much else may be needed, but the growth of junior quarterback Brandon Johnson has made defenses respect the pass.

"Our quarterback play has improved tremendously the last four weeks," said Sutherland. "We went through a tough stretch when B.J. struggled, but he's picked up his game the last few weeks."

Johnson completed only 44 percent of his passes and averaged 77.7 passing yards through the first six games, but has a 58.5 percent completion ratio and 100.8 yards per game since.

"(After the Newton game) we thought we weren't handling adversity very well," Sutherland said. "We sensed we were not mentally tough. We preached the next play is the most important play. I think that as the season has gone along, we've gotten a lot tougher mentally."

Against an athletic Troup team, Sutherland knows mental toughness alone may not be enough to keep the Buccaneers competitive.

"It will take our best ball game of the year, no doubt," he said.

The Buccaneers survived their worst game of the year and have thrived ever since, so maybe their best game is still to come.